Before reading about Globalization for class, I thought globalization was a panacea that had no draw backs. I was ecstatic that tools, ideas and medicines would be reaching every corner of the world. However, the Keywords passage made me think more critically about the environmental impacts of globalization and realize that the very nature of globalization is environmentally unsound. In order for the tools, ideas and medicines to reach new areas, they must get there.

While goods are cheaper and better built than ever before, the way the goods are being transported is similar to how they have always been. Today, factories in countries with low environmental standards make products, then the products are shipped or flown across the world and finally driven to where they will be sold. The entire process creates tons of carbon dioxide that makes the net benefit of the product negative. In order to maximize the benefits of cheap, high quality goods, society must pressure big business to invest sustainable manufacturing and transportation methods.